Thankfulness

WOW!  It is Thanksgiving again.  I can't believe how fast this year has gone by.  As I look over the last year the Lord has reminded me of several things I am thankful for - I wanted to share a few of them with you.  I can not tell you how thankful I am for my husband.  Each and everyday he shows unconditional, selfless love for me and his daughters.  His time is very stretched, but each and everyday he always finds time for us to wash us in the Word, pray with and for us and just be a great daddy/husband.  My girls.....wow, how they have grown up.  I am thankful to the Lord that He has entrusted us with these girls.  I am thankful that I have the opportunity to homeschool our oldest child - I love watching her learn and yearn to do more each day.  I am thankful that Brian and I get to teach them the love of Christ and how to be godly women.  I am thankful for the trials that the Lord has allowed to come in our life.  Through those trials the Lord has taught us many things and we have grown so much.  Last but certainly not least - I am thankful for Christ.  It is only through His shed blood that we have life and life everlasting.  We hope that you have a great Thanksgiving holiday.  

Michelle

(Brian, Emma Kate and Caroline)

And Her Name Is........

Hello everyone!  I know you all are dying to find out what our new baby girl's name is going to be.  After countless weeks of searching for the perfect name, Brian and I have finally decided and are ready to share. Our sweet baby girl's name is going to be Maggie Ann McCollough. So, how did we come up with this name?? All of our children are named after family members.  They are as follows:

Emma Kate 

Emma - was the name of Brian's great-grandmother (who passed away the spring before Emma Kate was born)

Kate - was a name that we just really liked

Caroline Yates 

Caroline - was the name of Michelle's great, great, great-grandmother

Yates - was Michelle's mothers maiden name

Maggie Ann

Maggie - was a name that we just really liked

Ann - is Michelle's first name

We are truly excited that the Lord has given us another opportunity to have a sweet little girl.  We can't wait until she arrives!

Michelle

A New President

If I didn't tell you that I wasn't dissapointed in our president elect - I would be lying to you.  However, I am choosing to go a different route this morning.  God is NOT surprised by the new president of the United States.  In fact, HE put him there.  Although we might not be happy with the outcome - the Word of the living God tells us to "rejoice in all things".  As Brian and I were talking last night we came to this conclusion:  the Lord is soverign, HE is the same yesterday, today and forever.  This outcome of president is not going to change the way we live our lives - we will still pray, we will still spread the gospel and we will still teach our children the ways of the Lord.  I encourage you - instead of being grumpy - choose to rejoice and PRAY.  Pray that the Lord would guide the footsteps of our president elect and pray that the Lord might even change his heart.  Just rejoice and pray!

Michelle

It's A Girl!

We went to the doctor yesterday for my 5 month checkup.  Everything is looking good - my blood pressure is still a little elevated, but not as bad as last month.  We also had an ultrasound.....come to find out we are having baby GIRL number three.  We are so excited.  The plan was not to tell the gender until the baby got here, but after finding out we were just about to bust.  We do not have any names for our sweet little bundle of joy yet, but we are working on it.  We are so thrilled that the Lord has given us another child to care for.  We are looking forward to the day that she arrives.  

Michelle

The Joy of Homeschooling

I can not begin to tell you how proud I am right now!  We started homeschooling Emma Kate 3 months ago.  I love her eagerness to learn!  We do several different things for school.  We have a workbook for shapes and colors, one for numbers, one for letters and one for matching.  We also have book time - this is where I will read aloud to her a book and then she will pick some books out and go and sit in her room and "read" to herself.  We also are learning Bible verses and at night Brian gets to participate with homeschooling by asking the Children's Shorter Catechism questions as well as reading our new book "Pilgrims Progress".  Again, we have only been at homeschooling for 3 months.  Today we finished our shapes and colors workbook!  Emma Kate now knows all of her shapes and colors.  She can tell you what they are as well as match them to different things.  While we are out running errands she can also point them out to you. Although we haven't yet completed our letter workbook - Emma Kate knows all of her letters and the sounds that they make.  I am so thankful to have this opportunity with her - to watch her grow and learn.  I wouldn't trade this time with her for anything in the world.

Michelle

Witch Hunt

The recent economic downturn has given liberal socialists an opportunity to brandish afresh their torches and pitchforks. Their passion is so great that many "conservatives" are being caught up in their frenzy. Witness the overwhelming passage of the Senate's bill to use my money to buy high risk assets from lenders who've already been all but sunk for holding them. The neat thing about this witch hunt is that the hunters actually discipled the witches, ratcheting down requirements of the Community Reinvestment Act and establishing quotas for the ensuing debauchery.

Witch hunters now proclaim that making money in America is evil. Indeed this is their battle cry. One only need watch a bit of the Senate Oversight Committees' interrogation of Lehman Brothers CEO, Richard Fuld. The back and forth can be summed this way, "Why did you make so much money?"

Turning to the witch hunters' messiah: a keynote of the Obama campaign is great social good through increased taxes on businesses and corporations [you know those entities that float around in the clouds]. It baffles me that Obama supporters somehow are oblivious to the economic impact of such an asinine plan.

Raise your hand if you work for a business! If taxes on that business increase, where will the money come from to pay those taxes? How about higher prices on goods sold by those businesses? That's also known as inflation. Yeah, that big, bad thing you're struggling with at the pump and check-out line right now. Oh yeah, here's the other option: decrease the cost of doing business by cutting salaries. That's called unemployment.

So what Obama proposes is higher taxes, higher inflation and higher unemployment. To help you cope with the higher cost of living that will result from his plan, and the job you don't have to pay for it, Obama and the Third Reich [read: Congress] will give you a monthly government stipend--which they will tax. If you invest, they will tax you. If you DIE, they will tax you. As a "patriot," or shall we say, loyal follower of the Fuhrer, you will graciously, no gratefully, comply. All this because wealth is evil!

We would rather have a nation of cow-towing servants with zero motivation to work, innovate, invest, create jobs or do anything else that will ultimately improve the social well being.

If you want to make money in this country and support the Obama-Biden ticket, you prepare your own stake. Save us taxpayers some money and buy your own matches!

Brian

Struggles

Lately I have been struggling with LIFE in general. The Lord has placed me in a season where I am walking in the valley so to speak. This valley is filled with difficulty and heartache. Just today I told Brian that I was fed up with being in this season of life. I told him that sometimes I think "Okay God, that is enough!" Then I am reminded that HE has put me in this season for a reason. HE is not surprised at what I am going through or even how I feel. HE is sovereign and knows my thoughts before I even speak them to HIM. The Word tells us that HE is close to the brokenhearted. I am reminded that HE walks with me each day and helps me through these rough spots. I am thankful that I have a God that NEVER changes. HE is the same yesterday, today and forever. I am glad that I have a God that has walked where I have walked and who is Lord of all creation and sits on HIS throne in Heaven reigning over all.

Michelle